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,  Jolly 

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2/eAes  ^  Jessie  Pope 

Sirais^tn^s  £1/  Frank  Adams 


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JOHNA.SEAVERNS 


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Three  Jolly 


Verses  3y  c/essie£^pe 


NEW    YORK:    DODGE    PUBLISHING    CO. 
214-220    EAST    23RD    STREET 


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HREE  jolly,  old   huntsmen,   Joe, 
Jerry,  Jim, 
Took    lunch    at    "  The    Three 
Cornered   Hat "; 
Now  Jerry  was  lanky,   but  Joe  wasn't  slim, 
And  Jim  was  delightfully  fat. 


They  sat  at  the  table  and  worked  with  a  will 

At  all  the  good  things  spread  about  them  ; 

They   munched    and   they   crunched   and   they 

gobbled,   until 
The  hunt  started  gaily  without  them. 


OE   cried    "  Hoity    Toity!     Alack! 
and   Confound!" 
Jim     moaned,     "  Let 's     complain     to     the 
Police ! " 
But    Jerry    remarked — "  I  've     an    old     basset 
hound, 
And  you  chaps  have  a  puppy  a-piece; 


"A  hunt  on  our  own   is  our  only  resource!" 
With   rapture  the  hounds  started   yelping. 

While  each   huntsman  proceeded  to  climb  on 
his  horse, 
The  ostlers  and  stable-boys  helping. 


HE  basset  hound  soon  found  a 
scent  to  his  taste; 
He  gave  tongue  and  was  off 
hke  a  shot, 
Behind    him   the   pups   and    the 
hunting  men   raced, 
For  the  pace  was  exceedingly  hot. 


But    a    garden    of    flower-beds,    all    bordered 
with   box, 

Put  an  end  to  their  sporting  excursion; 
For  the  riotous  pack  was  not  hunting  a  fox. 

But  Lady  Polpero's  pet  Persian. 


i-^'-iw.jm. 


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IM    and   Jerry   leaped   back   to    the 
road  whence  they  came, 
Joe    Hngered     to    whip    off    the 
hounds; 

Then    he    tried    to    escape    from    the    furious 
dame, 
But  lost  his  way  out  of  the  grounds. 


She    made    her    men    seek    him    with    furious 

shout ; 
But  he  finally  managed  to  thwart  her. 
By  crouching,  with  only  his  nose  sticking  out. 

In  a  water-butt,   brimful  of  water. 


OW   Jim   on    his   dappled    mare 
sturdily  sat, 
And  trotted  once  more  down 
the  street, 
And     he     said,     "  Well,     there  's     this     about 
hunting  a  cat. 
It  makes   me  want  something  to  eat ! " 


He   bought    half  a    chicken    to    gnaw    on    the 
way. 
And  filled  up  his  flask  with   brown   sherry. 
Then,    lighting    a   weed,    without    further    de- 
lay. 
He  cantered  away  after  Jerry. 


T   his  flask   he   was   taking  a 
leisurely  pull, 
When     he     heard    a    loud 
roar  in   the  rear, 
And,   turning,   discovered  a  brisk  looking  bull 
Drawing  most  disconcertingly  near. 


His    Dapple    was    munching    a    tuft    of   sweet 
grass, 
And     when     urged     to     "  gee     hup ! "     she 
refused  to; 
So  Joe  had  to  run  on   his  own  legs,  alas! 
At  a  pace  that  they  'd   never  been   used  to. 


H  why,"  whimpered  Jim,  "am 
\^^  I    hunting  in  pink? 

'T  IS  a  colour  these  savage  brutes  love ! " 
And    he    prayed    as    he    raced,    through    the 
ground  he  might  sink 
And   leave  his  pursuer  above. 


Two    yokels    ran    up    and    showed    wonderful 
sense 
In   using  their  forks  as  a  lever, 
And     hooked     the     stout     runaway     over     the 
fence, 
While  the  bull  took  it  out  of  his  beaver. 


OW    Jerry    till    sundown    con- 
tinued the  chase, 
With   his   basset   hound  working  a  line 
Which   led  them  at  last  to  a  desolate  place. 
Thank  goodness  the  weather  was  fine ! 


Beneath    a    gnarled    oak    tree    they    came    to 

halt, 

For  there  crouched  a  furry  white   Madam  ; 

Which   proved   that  their  hunting   once    more 

was  at  fault. 

And  again  had  the  Persian  cat   "had  'em". 


USS   swore  with   such   spite,   they 
were    glad  to  retire, 
By  a  pony  track  over  the  moor; 
But   what   with    the    boulders,    the   gorse,    and 
the  mire. 
Their  progress  was  painfully  poor. 


Till  Jerry,   half-famished,  endeavoured  to  jog 
Down     a     track     that     grew     thinner     and 
thinner. 

And  finally,   taking  a  toss  in  a  bog. 

Had  a  mouthful  of  mud  for  his  dinner. 


E  'D   never  been  quite  so  un- 
lucky before, 
To  the   best  of  his  honest  behef, 
And  still   he'd  another  adventure  in  store; 
For  some  rustics  were  chasing  a  thief 


In  the  dusk  they  were  quite  convinced  Jerry 
was  he, 
And  captured  the  horse  he  was  riding. 
While   the    huntsman    crouched    down    by   the 
stump  of  a  tree 
To  secure — and  escape  from — a  hiding. 


HAT    night    in    the   bar   of   "  The 
Three  Cornered   Hat " 
He  ran  his  two  cronies  to  earth, 
And    his    phght    was    so    mournful    and    woe- 
begone,  that 
The  rafters  resounded  with   mirth. 


Then,  snug  by  the  fire,   with   their  toddy  at 
hand. 
While  the  Landlady  mended  their  tatters. 
They   declared,    one    and    all,    that    the    sport 
had   been  grand — 
And,  after  all,  nothing  else  matters! 


PRINTED  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 
At  the   Villafield  Press,  Glasgow,  Scotland 


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Then, 

banc 
While  th 
They   declar 
had   be 
And,  a^ 


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